Method of and apparatus for the rolling of metal strips and sheets



Jah. 5, 1932.

R. H. NORTON ET AL METHOD OF AND' APPARATUS FOR THE ROLLING OF METALSTRIPS AND SHEETS Filed June 15, 1928 Qb Qh, Q J, 3..., @fi WM aw mm. RAmww Q M 1 1 W Q N Uh [NJ Sm @e mm mw v R ON hm R E.mw uulol olo o l p o.o o w mv Rm w @QW MO MM MN MK. MN \wlflul O O O D I hm @h an mm A v Q0wk NN R W ,QQ B m R Q QQ @O QQ WW %N| ON. $N| m \WN mw ww N NO fin n 1%-h mm. b MW ON IRI IwN AQ w E NB N llr R .g MN 9+ W32, R. H, NORTC\ N ETAL I 1,839,333

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR THE ROLLING OF METAL ST'RIPS AND SHEETSFiled June 15, 1928 2 Shee cs-Sheet 2 i i atent-ed Jan. 5, 1932 UNITED;STA

RALPH H. neuron, or CHICAGO, arm WILLIAM c. roux, or nomuwooi),ILLI'NOZIQS, AS-

- SIGNORS To some scram. comrnuy, or extreme, rumors, a conrona'rron on.

ILLINOIS MErrron or Am) arrnna'rus fron' ran Bonn me or ETAL-smarts seemApplia ti on meg are--15.

This invention relates to ani-mproved method and apparatus for usein'the manufacture of metal strips and shee'ts,-'particularly sheets andstrips ofsteel, whereby the sheets or strips may be rolled toarelatively thin gauge with one heating.-' The principalobject of theinvention is to provide improved apparatus for doubling the partiallyreduced and elongated hot metal sheet upon-itself toform a pack whichis-su'bjected to further action by reducing rolls forforming a plu-,rality' o superimposed-sheets of finer gauge than can be produced'bythe rolling of-asingle sheet. A further object ofthe inve'n- I strips orsheets with the use oft'he'apparatus tion is to provide an improvedmethod by which strips and sheets can be rolled with a single heating"of the metal'by a process which involves the automatic doubling ofthesheet upon itself when artially reduced and also the edgei'ollingothe sheet during'its travel sothat the finished sheets are ofrelatively fine gauge and of definite width. -A further automaticallyheld and elevated top'ermit the bodyportion of the sheet to travelber'ieath object of the invention is to provide improved apparatuscomprising ineans for engaging the partially reduced and elongated hotsheet during its travel through the mill whereby the forward end of thehot sheet is the elei'ated end. thereby doubling the sheet upon itselfand forn' ing a piurality layers of hot vmetal which are further reducedto a finished gauge by the operation of thefinishing rolls. Otherobjects relate to various features of construction and arrangement whichwill appear more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention w ll be understood from the followingspecification taken with the accompanying drawings in which one form oi?apparatus embodying the invention is illustrated. In the drawings,

Figure 1 shows a somewhat diagrammatic top plan View of a rolling. millembodyingthe features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a diagrammatic side elevation of the apparatus illustratedin Fig. 1; i Fig. '3 shows an enlarged diagrammatic side elevation ofthe intermediateportion of the apparatus illustrated in'Fig.-1'by*which" 192s." s ruu No. zaaezz.

the hot metal sheet, partially reduced, is donbled upon itself; I

' Fig. 4 shows aside elevation of the apparatus by which the forward endof the travelin sheet is gripped and elevatedp; "g. 5 shows a verticalsection on the line 5'5 of-Fig. 6, illustrating the construct-ion ofoneof the gripping arms'and its gripping dog';-and f Fig. 6 shows an endelevation of the gripping apparatus by which the end of the sheet isgripped andelevated, thevi'ew being taken looking toward the right asviewed in Fig. 4:. In carrying outthe manufacture of metal illustratedin the accompanying drawings, the hot ingots are first formedintoelongated slabs preferably several feet long, two'inch'es or -morein'thickness and about four inches or-more in width. These elongated'slabs'are ing operations, preferably a temperature about 2300 degreesFahrenheit. These hot metal slabs are discharged from the furnace 10 oneat a time, intoitheguide channel 11 of the millwhere they are fed byfeeding rollers 13-betweenthe reducing rolls 12 which constitute thefirst 'setof a series of roughing rolls by which the hotslab ispartially re-. duced and elongated. The rolls 12enga e the flat slab onits edges for the pur ose 0 producingfa-uniforrn width from en tofe'nd,and after passin through these rolls the slab'is manually ti ted ontoits flat side before it passes into the second set of rolls 14 by whichits gauge is reduced. 1 The slab is then manuallyor automatically set upon its edge again and passed through another setof rolls 15. Afterpassing through the rolls 15,: ;the slab is returned to its flat side onthe and elongated bar emerges from the edge rollers-17 'it passesbetween the horizontal rollers 18 which constitute the final reducingrollers of the roughing set. The various surface -of the traveling ,e

reducing or horizontal rollers 12, 14, 15, 16.

and 18 are driven by gearing 19 and the driving shaft of each gearingset 19 is connected by bevel gears 20 with a common driving shaft 21arranged to be actuatedby a reducing gear set 22 leading from anelectric motor 23. The edge rollers 17 have vertical shafts connected toa driving shaft 24 which is driven by an electric motor 25.

As the partially reduced and greatly elongated hot metal bar emergesfrom the final set of roughing rolls 18, it is in readiness to bedoubled upon itselfby' the apparatus of the present invention. -If the,operation is being carried on at a relatively high tem erature, suchas'that suggested above, t ere is preferably applied to the top surfaceof the hot metal strip or bar, before it-is doubled, a suitableseparating agent for preventin the superimposed hot metalla ers fromadhering to each-other in the .ro ling which takes place following thedoublin operation. This separating agent maypre erably be sodiumcarbonate applied according to t improved method described and claimedin the 00- ending application of Ralph H. Norton, rial No. 285-,621,filed June 15, 1928.

This separating agent is applied to the top ongated bar 26 from asuitable sifting box or shaker 27 which is located over .the guidechannel -11 of the mill immediately following the rolls 18. Im-

mediately after passing the siftin box 27,-

t-he forward end of the traveling ,ar 26 is automatically engaged'by apair of gripping arms 30 which are' pivota l-y mounted to swing upwardlyand away'from the rolls 18 so that, as the forward end of the travelingbar is elevated, inthe manner illustrated in Fig. 3, the trailingportion of the elongated bar 26 is automatically fed beneath the arms 30thereby causing the elon ated fiat bar to be doubled upon itself as sown in Fig. 3. The apparatus by which the forward end of the travelingelongated bar is gripped and elevated has the form shown particularly inFigs. 4, 5, and 6. This apparatus is carried by a pair of auxiliaryframes 31 detachably secured to the sides of the guide frame or channel11 by means of bolts 32 detachably engaging sockets 33. The frames 31have journaled therein a transverse shaft 34 provided at one end with acrank 35 and at the other end with a fixed collar 36 so that the shaftis restrainediagainst longitudinal movement. The crank handle 35 has adepending arm 37 which is normally maintained in engagement with a stoppin 38 by means of a coil spring 39 connected to the lower end of thearm 37 and to a pin 40 secured to the adjacent frame 31. Between theframes 31, the shaft 34 has journaled thereon the two gripping arms 30each of which has an upward extension 30 secured to a transverse rod 42.The rod 42 projects laterally over one of the auxiliary frames 31adjacent the handle and this projecting portion of the rod carries apivotally mounted pawl 43 which is actuated by a coil spring 44, mountedon the rod, to engage the ratchet teeth 45 of the sector 46 which formsthe upper part of one of the side frames 31. The lower end of eachgripping arm 30 is provided with a hooked jaw 48 having the formillustrated particularly in Fig. 5. This jaw has a relatively narrowrecess 49 adapted to be engaged bythe end of the oncoming bar of metaland the mouth'of the jaw is provided with an upturned flange 50 for thepurpose of guiding the metal into the recess 49. As the forward endofthe traveling bar engages the recesses 49 in the two gripping arms 30,which are located in the same plane, these arms are forced upwardly andtoward the right as viewed in Figs. 3 and 5, and this motion causes theend of the .bar to be automaticall by the jaws 48 due to the action 0gripping dogs 51 which extend downwardly from the shaft 34 and which areprovided at their upper ends with split bearing members 52 arranged tobe journaled on the reduced and eccentrically. located portions 53 ofthe shaft wardly about the shaft 34 by the action of the movingelongated bar of hot metal, the jaws 48 move in paths which areeccentric with respect to the pivotal supports of the gri ping dogs 51so that these dogs are forced ownwardly through the openings 54 and arecausedto grip the edge of the sheet and retain it securely in positionwithin the jaws. When the arms 30 reach a limiting position which isdetermined principally by the weight of the bar and its speed of travel,it is retained in that position by the engagement of the pawl 43 withone of the ratchet teeth 45 so that the arms 30 then hold the end of theelongated bar 26 in an elevated position, as shown in Fig. 3, while thetrailing portion of the bar travels beneath the arms 30 and the bar isthereby doubled upon itself. When the trailing end of the bar reaches aposition adjacent to the location of the arms 30, the operator standingat the side of the mill releases the forward end of the bar from thejaws 48 by turning the crank handle 35 toward the left as viewed in Fig.4, thereby rotating the shaft 34 and causing the eccentric portions 53of the shaft to elevate the gripgripped lea ' from the space upon eachother. As the double bar 26 advances over the underlying rollers 55, thebent extremity 26 thereof engages a pair of rolls 56 which partiallycompress the bent end of the bar so as to cause it to assume the formindicated by dotted lines at 57 This bent portion, of reduced verticaldimension, then engages another set of rolls 58 which further compressthe bent end to cause it to assume the condition shown at 59 in Fig. 3.This part 59 then engages a pair of closely spaced rolls 60 which effectthe final operation of flattening the upper section 26 of the bar uponthe lower section 26. These rolls 56, 58 and 60, which form a graduallydiminishing passage for the traveling sheet, are actuated by a commondriving mechanism 61 driven by an electric motor 62, as shown in Fig. 1.pon emerging from the converging series of rolls by which the bar isflattened upon itself, the bar is in readiness for the final reducingoperation, preliminary to which it is passed between a pair of edgingrolls 65 which are mounted on vertical axes and which are driven by acommon driving shaft 66 actuated by an electric motor 67. The forwardend of the doubled bar, upon emerging between the edging rolls 65, isengaged by the first pair of reducing rolls 68 and it then passessuccessivel through a number of similar sets of reducmg'rolls 69, fourof which sets are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The reducingrolls 68 and 69 are actuated by suitable gearingin ing rollers 73 andparts the gear boxes 70 and the mechanism of each ear'box is in turndriven by an electric motor 1. These motors 71 are preferably driven atdifferent speeds to compensate for the gradual reduction in thickness ofthe pack made up of the superimposed layers of the metal bar. During theprogress of the bar through the finishing rolls 68 and 69, it isimportant to keep the top layer 26 in exact alignment with the lowerlayer 26 and for this purpose each of the pairs of reducing rolls 69 ispreceded by vertical guidin rollers 73 each pair of which is actuate bya common driving shaft 74 having a driving connection by a chain 75 withthe shaft 76 by which the motor 71 of the next preceding, set of reduingrollsis connected to its gear box. In this way each set of v uidingrolls 7 3 is driven with a speed corresponding with the speed of thereducing rolls of the next preceding set by which the elongated bar isstill engaged at the time that the forward end of the bar is firstcontacted by the guid ing rollers of that particular set. Theguidassociated therewith may preferably be of the form described andclaimed in the co-pending application of Ralph H. Norton, Serial No.285,623, filed June 15, 1928.

It will be apparent that by the means described in the foregoingspecification it is ossible to effect the doubling of a bar of fiotmetal after the partial reduction thereof for the purpose 0 effecting afurther reduction to a relatively thin or sheet gauge and of definitewidth without the employment of complicated mechanism for effecting thedoubling operation; Although one form oftheinvention has been shown anddescribed the forward end of said bar stationary while 1 continuing toadvance the trailing portion thereof to thereby double said bar uponitself, and then rolling and reducing the doubled bar to thin gauges. v

2. The method of manufacturing metal sheets or strips which consists inreducin a slab to form an elongated bar,.then holding the forward end ofsaid bar stationary while continuing to advance the trailing portionthereof to thereby double said bar upon itself, and then releasing saiddoubled bar and advancing it bodily between rolls adapted to flatten theadvancing doubled end thereof.

3. The method of manufacturing metal sheets or strips'which consists inreducin a slab to form an elongated bar, then holding the forward endof'said bar stationary while continuing to advancethe trailing portionthereof to thereby double said bar upon itself, then releasing said barand advancing it bodily between rolls adapted to flatten the advancingdoubled end thereof, and then running the doubled bar through finishingrolls.

4. The method of manufacturing metal sheets or strips which consists inreducing a slab to form an elongated and partially reduced bar, thenholding and elevating the forward end of said partially reduced barwhile continuing to advance the trailing portion thereof beyond saidend, then releasing said end of said bar and advancing said bar througha plurality of sets of rolls having a gradually diminishing spacedrelation, and then further reducing the superimposed layers of said barto thin gauges.

5. The combination in apparatus for the manufacture of metal sheets andstrips, of means for rolling a slab to form a partially reduced andelongated bar, means for engaging and holding the forward'end of saidelongated bar while permitting the remaining portion thereof to beadvanced beyond said holding means to effect the doubling of saidelongated bar, and means for reducing the superimposed layers of saiddoubled bar.

6. The combination in apparatus for the doubled bar after theforward'end thereof manufacture of metal sheets and strips, of has beenreleased-from saidarm In witness whereof, we have subscribed our meansfor partially reducing a hot slab to form an elongated flattened metalbar of substantially uniform width, means for holding the forward end ofsaid elongated bar while permitting the trailin rtion thereof to advancebeyond said ho ing means to double said sheet, means for flattening thedoubled end of said bar, and'means for thereafter reducing the su)erimposed layers of said bar.

7 The com ination in apparatus for the manufacture of metal sheets andstrips, of means for reducing a hot metal slab to form an elongated bar,means for automatically enga ing and elevating the forward end of saidar while permitting the trailing portion thereof to advance beneath saidholding means, means'for flattening the doubled en names.

of said bar, and means for further reducing the superimposed layers ofsaid doubled bar. 8. The combination in apparatusfor the manufacture ofmetal sheets and strips, of means for reducing and feeding a hot metalslab to form an elongated partially reduced bar means for automaticallen a in and.

elevating the forward end of said elongated bar and holding said endstationary while permitting thetrailing portion thereofto be fedforwardly beneath said holding means,

and means for further reducing the superimposed layers of the bar whichis doubled by the operation of said last named means.

9. The combination in apparatus forthe manufacture of metal sheets andstrips, of means for reducing and feeding a hot "metal slab to form anelongated partially reduced bar, means for automatically engaging andelevating the forward end of said elongated bar and holding said endstationary while permitting the trailing portion thereof to be fedforwardly beneath said holding means,

a plurality'of sets of rolls arranged with the rolls of one set having alesser spaced relation than the rolls of the next preceding set toeffect the flattening ofthe doubled end of said bar, and means operativethereafter for reducing the superimposed layers of said doubled bar. i

10; The combination in apparatus for the manufacture of metal sheets andstrips, of means for feeding an elongated metal bar, means for engagingand elevating the forward end of said bar to permit the trailing portionthereof topass beneath said elevating means, and means operativethereafter for flattening the doubled end of the bar and reducin thesuperimposed layers thereof.

11. T e combination'in apparatus for the manufacture of metal sheets andstrips, of means for feeding an elongated metal bar, a pivotally mountedarm having means adapted to engageand automatically grip the forward endof said bar during its travel, and means for flattening and reducing the

